Breath of Life PART I
by Clairavance
Summary: Disclaimers: FG copyright L.J Smith. Prequel to Ever After.Summary: A slave girl is claimed by a shadow man and taken to his world.Julian is brought into creation. Cutscenes between the Games. LAST CHAPTER UPDATED!
1. Bits and pieces of Faye

_**A/N: The night of Julian's creation, the events that took place before and a little bit more background into Faye's history and character. Written while listening to **_Breath – Breaking Benjamin. _**Just to help set the 'mood'. Youtube it if you like.**_

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She despised them with a bitter and pure loathing such as she was convinced no person should ever have to experience. Her hatred consumed the wild panic and anger swelling inside of her; it even blocked out the stinging pain of the leather whip coming down on her back repeatedly. She felt the tips of the whip slice into the skin of her arms as she covered her head protectively, curled into a ball on the floor so that her back would absorb most of the beating.

"Let this be a lesson to you for disobeying my orders." The female voice was old and thick with age and mercifully the beating stopped. "Get up."

The girl didn't budge. She grimaced when a foot made swift contact in her side and she toppled over, blinking with dark furious eyes at her owner.

"Get _up_," the order was barked again, this time with a threatening note to it.

The girl obeyed painfully slowly, glaring as she hauled herself weakly to her feet. She straightened out her tunic, faded with age and worn out because it was the only article of clothing she possessed. It was stained a rusty colour due to her always being between the ashes in the furnace, always cleaning up the gory mess after her owner has sacrificed yet another living, breathing creature, but most of the stains were from her own blood that refused to be washed out of the once white tunic.

"I need Dragon's breath and a handful of quartz." Was her owner's curt response to her glare before the older woman turned and simply glided from the study.

She watched the woman's retreating back and slowly let out her breath. If she hadn't known any better, she would have muttered some pretty decent insults at the woman. But the chances were that her owner would hear and she'd only succeed in winning yet another session of punishment. Her owner was, after all, a witch – and a powerful one at that.

The girl sighed heavily and closed her eyes. She was uneducated and her vocabulary was limited, which was to be expected of a slave. She was only a possession, after all. She wasn't born to think or feel, she was born to solely serve without question. She didn't know anything else but part of her wished there was more to life than this.

Burnt amber eyes snapped open and stared at the four shadowy figures against the wall across from her. One shape was low and blurry but she assumed it was meant to be a dog – it was the size of one at least even if there was no solid outline. Another appeared like the shadow of a man in a top hat, like the rich folk. The third was what she thought was a snake, lying coiled in a heap on the floor and its head was raised as though ready to strike. The fourth was a rounded figure, as though it was wearing a shadow cloak to conceal itself from her. This, she thought, was suitable seeing as their name meant 'hidden from sight'. Djinn, is what her owner called them. Parasites are what she herself called them.

She felt a spark of glee inside of her. Her owner would be scared beyond measure if she was to know her shadow beings were able to get out of the 'magic' box she thought she'd trapped them in.

Then again, it was probably her fault that they were out in the first place after knocking the box over while she was cleaning a couple of days before. It didn't 

matter though. Her owner didn't find anything amiss and as long as she was under the impression that she was still in control of these magical creatures, then the girl saw no reason to worry.

She observed the shadows for another brief moment. They were observing her too. She knew because they only appeared when she was alone in the room – and she was often alone in the room, scrubbing at the blood stains on the stone floor.

Sighing to herself, she strolled from the room. Part of her acknowledged one of the shadows attach itself to her as she breezed past. Or rather it attached to her shadow. A sense of foreboding fell over her as she quickly made her way from the house and fell into the flow of foot traffic on the rough stone streets outside. Some primal part of her mind was shrieking at her that she was being followed, trying to make her run away. But she didn't. Where would she run to where the Djinn would not follow? She was just too tired of life to try and run.

Besides, despite her owner believing she had no mind of her own and was unable to comprehend anything but the simple orders given to her, she knew as much about Djinn as the old witch did. Her owner was constantly tutoring her pupils about bargaining with the Djinn for more power and more knowledge. All was forbidden to open the 'magic' box because that would set the creatures free and give them the right to a claim. What claim exactly she didn't know but she knew it would be quite unpleasant.

For a moment she wondered what they would claim from her. She didn't think they'd be understanding that she hadn't purposely let them out of the box - her and her clumsiness. Perhaps she would be lucky and they would claim her life – but that would be too convenient for her and she wasn't all that sure whether she wanted to die or not. Some days she did. They couldn't claim anything else from her, though. She had nothing they could take, she had no possession of her own except her clothes and she doubted they'd find much use with the tunic she had on.

She studied her scarred rough hands distractedly as she weaved through the mass of rushed people to the market. When she finally arrived, she found to her great dismay that the stall where herbs and crystals were sold had once again been closed down by the authorities, the magical items confiscated. With an incredible sense of defeat, she braced herself and turned to go back to the house. Her owner was going to have her hide for this without a doubt.

She cursed the opposing Romans once again. Why did they have to be so adamant that Ceasar was a god and that all else that wasn't somehow connected to him was evil and should be banished? She herself didn't believe he was a god – she'd thrown a sharp pebble at his head the day before as he'd been gloating through the streets in his gold chariot, and she'd seen the trickle of red where the rock had left its mark on his temple. Gods don't bleed.

She paused in mid-stride down the street, compelled to stop and turn to the side. She disengaged herself from the flow of traffic, biting down on her lip as she was bumped into hard from all sides. Then she was free of the moving mass and faced with a rotting wooden door leading into a house.

The strange sensations that she wanted to go inside made her hang back, studying the door objectively. She was being lured by magic, she was certain of it. She knew its properties and force well as she'd been faced with it day and night since she was but a little child. She glanced around her for a moment. The traffic continued moving, people were oblivious to her existence. Pursing her lips, she turned back to the door. She might as well delay her punishment.

She pushed the door open with her hand, vaguely noticing that the rough wood left no splinters against her palm. She stepped inside – and lost her breath.

It was a gift from the heavens. Or from hell. She didn't really care where it was from, only that it was an unexpected solution that just might save her from another beating.

The room was pure magic. Shelves lined the walls; crystals, stones, jewels and powders were arranged in neat organized sections. She glided over to a bucket filled with quartz and using her tunic as a bag, she grabbed a handful of the smooth stones and moved on to find the Dragon's breath. She paused every now and again to inspect other objects she didn't recognize. She heard footsteps behind her somewhere.

"Do you have any Dragon's breath?" She demanded, fingering an odd-looking bone that seemed to be made of ochre and ivory. When there was no reply she turned, frowning, expecting the person to have gone.

Instead she found herself face to face with a boy wearing a black cloak. The dark material seemed to shimmer and shift with twilight hues, the hood shadowing his features. Her heart seemed to rear to a sudden stop inside of her chest.

His lips were thin and curled into an amused smirk, his skin as pale as moonlight and so flawless that she'd have thought he was a figment of her imagination. There was a menacing aura about him that she knew ought to instil fear inside of her but she felt nothing. His eyes were absurdly and inhumanly beautiful, glowing back at her like two pools of heated gold, sharp and piercing, brimming with ancient power and frightening intellect.

"I do." His voice was cold like snowflakes and filled with such a distorted, unnaturally beautiful sound that for a second she was unable to breathe. "You have no use for it, though."

"No, I don't. It's for my mistress. She's a witch." She responded evenly.

The eyes flashed at her dangerously. "She was the mad woman who restrained us. You are the one who set us free."

She widened her eyes slightly as realization settled in. Oh. Of course. The hooded figure. He'd followed her.

Curious how he would approach her so openly – she'd been under the impression that Djinn didn't attempt communication with humans unless they were summoned. She certainly didn't summon _him_.

"You are here to take your claim." She said flatly and frowned when an expression like surprise crossed his perfect features. Wasn't that what he was here for?

"Yes." He answered, recovering quickly and a disturbing smile spread on his face. "I have come to take you to my world."

Her mouth dropped open and her hands went numb. Quartz scattered across the floor as she stood, staring up at him in complete amazement. This wasn't what she'd expected at all.

"I have a claim over you. I needn't explain how things work to you. All you need to know is that you are now mine." His voice turned ugly. "To do with as I please."

"You will not kill me then?" She asked when she found her voice, unable to mask the disappointment she felt.

"In time, once I tire of your physical self." He didn't seem caught off guard this time. "After that I will consume your eternal soul."

Laughter rolled from her lips in a pure, heart-felt release. It angered him and she thought it was unwise to laugh in the face of what could have passed as the 

devil. Her laughter died as abruptly as it began and meeting his gaze evenly, she spoke clearly with full conviction.

"I have no soul."

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Running a finger across the jagged iced rock she was seated upon and heated gaze reflecting on the eerily beautiful forest surrounding her, a cold sneer curled across her full lips. She had no idea how long she'd been in this world of trickery and coldness but time had never been of much interest to her. Her memory of her own world had faded, and thankfully so.

The Djinn were out for blood again. She knew by the petrified expressions on the human faces of five children, huddled together before her in a tight group. They hadn't noticed her, the shadows of the trees kept her well hidden. She watched in amusement as shadows detached themselves from the forest floor, shaping into tiny beings glowing with tiny flames and pretty wings. They rose from the forest floor in a wave and attacked the group of children.

She watched distractedly as the children shrieked and began to run in all directions; she heard the crackling sound of ice crushed as one of the djinn roared with laughter behind her somewhere.

One of the children were left behind, arms flailing uselessly as he tried to bat the mythical creatures away, his shrieks high pitched like that of an animal instead of anything human.

She reflected back on her own experiences since her djinn had brought her here that long time ago. He'd made her watch a man strangle a beautiful young woman at first before he sacrificed her, just as her owner had done countless times with other innocent victims. After the ordeal she'd turned to her djinn with a look of complete bewilderment on her face.

"Why did you show me this?" She'd asked, mind a muddled mess of confusion.

"That is your father. That was your mother." His simple reply had been.

He hadn't been all that impressed when she told him she had no father. She loathed the man nearly as much as her owner for it was him who had sold her to the old witch in the first place. No _father_ would sell his own flesh and blood.

When her djinn had informed her that it truly was her father before her, that the scene of him slaughtering the young woman again and again was his worst nightmare that he had to face endlessly, she'd approached the figure. She'd seen the immense regret in his cold brown eyes, the wildness in his gaze when he'd looked back at her in shock before glancing down at the damaged lifeless body of his wife in his arms before looking at her again.

"Forgive me...my child..." He'd whispered, voice quivering in fear and emotion.

She'd returned his gaze blankly momentarily before snickering at his expression. "You think I care for you? I feel nothing for you, you mad sheep. May you be trapped in this damnation forever more." She'd responded in a light tone of voice before skipping back to the side of her djinn, who was watching her with an emotion she rarely spotted in any of the others. A look of pure curiosity.

There had been the other little horrors she was made to experience since. Being trapped in a lake filled with swarming, slimy toads and frogs was the worst she'd had to endure. With every step she would crush another frog, feel its intestines squish beneath her feet and ooze through her toes. It had been disgusting on a higher level. Though, when her djinn had appeared on the embankment, watching her with keen eyes, she'd shouted at him.

"When will this end? Have you nothing better to do than flood me with these pests?" She'd cried from the middle of the lake, grimacing as the little monstrosities leapt onto her chest and clung there, yellow eyes gazing back at her emotionlessly. She'd wiped them off in disgust.

"There is a tale on Earth surrounding frogs. The story goes that if you kiss a frog, it will magically turn into a prince." He'd been mocking her, of course, but she'd grabbed up a slippery large frog and unceremoniously kissed it on the head, wiping the cold slime off her lips with the back of her hand. When nothing happened, she scooped up piles of frogs, kissing left right and centre. Her djinn had been rolling around in laughter and when one of the frogs finally transformed into a prince – or rather a very slimy, repulsive, wart covered creature that took on the shape of a man - it had been her turn to fall about in a fit of laughter.

She'd simply been numb to all else that was thrown at her until, finally, her djinn got tired of failing in his quest to frighten her and force her to submit to what would be classed as human defeat. She would have been dead or worse off if it hadn't been that the other djinn wanted her. Her own djinn was too proud and selfish to share, and so she remained his possession. Of course, that didn't mean she was kept on a leash at his side all the time. Which is why she was here in the forest, observing poor human children face their own fears. She didn't take pleasure in their distress but she found it amusing what fears the human mind conjured up.

She looked up now from the shrieking child when she felt the familiar presence beside her. She cocked her head to the side at her djinn, his lithe body clad in forest green. She reached out and ruffled her hand roughly through the thick black mass of hair on his head, watching in brief admiration as the individual hairs flashed a million shades of the rainbow before settling back in a disarray of black.

"You like to come here." He observed.

"No. I like the creatures." She replied, hugging her knees to her chest as she watched the tiny lights flitting about the child rolling about wildly.

"Many humans fear the fairies." He nodded, as amused as she was. "Why are you different?"

She forced herself to look at him. "Perhaps I'm not as human as you think."

"Perhaps." He was silent for a few moments. "What is your name?"

She found it odd that he would ask her this. No one ever asked her before, and after being in his world for what felt like a very long time, she was startled that he would want to know at all.

"I have no name." She answered, gazing back into his golden eyes.

"Then I shall give you one." He glanced at the small creatures in front of them and smiled at her sadistically. "I shall call you... Faye."

"What shall I call you then?" She asked curiously. She knew he had no name. He was like her in that perspective.

"Master." Was his simple reply.

"No. I think I'll name you Gahiji."

He glanced at her, a flicker of pride in his eyes and a cruel smile on his lips. "Suit yourself. I suppose any name will do. I am a hunter, after all."

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**A/N:**_**Just so there's not too much confusion... Faye is an old terminology for fairy, Gahiji is an ancient Egyptian word for 'hunter'.**_


	2. I want to play a game

Faye gazed at the elemental blizzard raging outside the solid cubical walls that kept her safe. Flashes of lightning danced through the twilight sky, briefly illuminating snowy peaks that seemed to change every passing second.

She listened curiously to the djinn behind her in the room – or rather, the shadow men, as that is what they preferred to call themselves.

Had she been controlled by fear, their words would have been nothing but hissing gibberish, but she listened with a trained ear to their discussion now. They were brilliant creatures, their minds working in a different way than her own. She found it refreshing and intriguing, and thoroughly enjoyed eavesdropping so openly.

Of course, none of them realized that her petty human brain was able to distinguish between their words and grasp what was being said. It worked to her advantage. She gained quite an impressive amount of knowledge on the shadow world and its inhabitants, the same way she'd learnt about magic and djinn on earth. It was their ignorance regarding her intellect that made them speak so freely without so much as noting her presence in the room with them.

Faye turned now to watch the assembly of shadow men. They were seated on throne-like chairs of blue-silver ice arranged precisely around a giant blue orb that substituted for a table. Above the orb in what appeared to be a stream of magical fire, a long flat stave was suspended. It glowed a beautiful mix of colours she couldn't describe and she gazed at it for a moment, captivated.

She averted her attention back to the shadow men as she stepped closer confidently. They were discussing bringing another shadow man into existence – what purpose they had for this was beyond her interests and she rarely paid attention to the newcomers. They were all deadly to her because they were simply lumps of brainless clay possessing too much power that needed a firm hand to mould them into intellectual beings. Moulding them in itself wasn't a pleasant task either – Faye had watched Gahiji 'shape' quite a few of them through time and he'd been brutal, merciless, at times he even ended up destroying them in a gory mess.

Gahiji's eyes locked onto her when she appeared beside him, running her hands gingerly across the orb table. She watched trickles of electricity follow in the wake of her fingers. The discussion didn't halt until Gahiji spoke.

"What do you desire, Faye?" Gahiji asked.

She looked at him nonchalantly, chewing her lip thoughtfully for a moment. Gahiji had changed. Not in nature – he was still a sadistic and heartless devil and she doubted that would ever change. But his appearance had become...distorted, if even only slightly. His skin, for one, had become discoloured in areas, the pale moonlight darkened to silvery grey blotches. His teeth were non-existent and she was thankful it wasn't in his nature to smile at her – his gums were a torn mess of rotting tissue that would give anyone nightmares. His inner nature was beginning to define his appearance and she was getting sick of it.

Although Gahiji owned her by all rights, she'd always perceived him of rather belonging to her. He was _her_ djinn, _her_ shadow man. When the other shadow men got out of hand and tried to test her, she would threaten them with '_my_ _jinni won't find this amusing'_. He was her protection, her shield – but she was tired of looking into his gradually decaying face.

"I want to play a game."

There was a deafening silence. The shadow men either thought she was arrogant because she was the only human kept alive as a pet in their world, or they thought she was insane for challenging them – the tricksters of all tricksters.

"Ah." Gahiji broke the silence, amused. "What game do you wish to play?"

"I thought a round of Senet would be entertaining." Faye shrugged, lifting herself onto the table and swinging her legs in childish eagerness. She knew there would be no chance of any of them declining her suggestion – the shadow men got off on games of all kinds.

"I don't think the others would be well pleased with a game as such, beautiful Faye. Senet can only be played by two persons." Gahiji pointed out and received a murmur of agreement from the others.

"Do I look like a fool to you? I _know_ Senet can only be played by two people." Faye scowled and then softened into a cunning smile. "If you win, Gahiji, then you have no choice but to share me with your companions here. I will no longer belong solely to you, I will no longer have only one _master_."

Faye smiled as the others eagerly agreed to it, encouraging. Gahiji appeared impressed and suspicious.

"Are you so eager to end your existence?" Gahiji arched his eyebrows quizzically. There was no doubt that the other shadow men would rip her apart and show her no mercy.

"Suffer no illusion – I'm all about living. My life is the only worthy thing I have, Gahiji." Faye paused dramatically and gestured with her hand to the stave above her. "If I win, I want that."

"Agreed." Gahiji said without a beat of hesitation.

Faye grinned when the scenery around them changed suddenly. She found herself sitting in a leather armchair across from Gahiji, a square little table between them. The others were gathered about in the shadows, their eyes watching hungrily. She could almost hear the drool dripping from their slobbering mouths and smiled across at Gahiji.

On the table between them stood a small narrow box with a grid of thirty squares, arranged in three rows of ten. The box itself was made of opal and it had a strange mythical blue haze around it. The top row was neatly stacked with ten pawns, starting with blue, then green, then blue again. There were five blue pawns and five green pawns in total.

"I call green." Gahiji grinned maliciously, tossing six short sticks that appeared to be made of gold into the air.

They watched the sticks fall silently onto the table. There were only three faced up and Faye watched Gahiji's green pawn move three squares to the right, pushing one of her blue pawns a square back.

Faye wiped the sticks into her hand and sent a sly glance at the snickering shadow men around them. She flicked the sticks onto the table and pursed her lips in satisfaction when all six landed face up. She picked up a blue pawn and moved it into the middle row before scooping up the sticks again.

"Free throw, right?" Faye paused, eyeing Gahiji's amused gaze.

Gahiji made a slight nod with his head to confirm. "Throwing one, four or six gives you a free round, yes."

Faye flicked the sticks onto the surface again and met Gahiji's gaze evenly when again, all six sticks faced up. She moved the same pawn she'd moved a moment before.

"Pure luck." Gahiji smirked. "The game has only started."

Faye arched her eyebrows and again she tossed the sticks. This time she threw a four and, very pleased with herself, she moved the same pawn again four squares on. One last throw gave her two and she decided to move one of her other pawns in the top row.

"You've got a good head start." Gahiji shrugged in response to her expectant gaze.

Faye said nothing when it was Gahiji's turn to throw a six, moving his green pawn until it was beside her own blue pawn in the middle row. She felt a flicker of determination. Where it had taken her a couple of throws to get that far, it had taken Gahiji only one. She expected his next throw to bring him another free round but instead he threw a two. Still, he moved his pawn past her own.

It was a tense game. Faye wasn't only playing for the runic stave now but also for her life. She stood a good chance of losing – but then so did Gahiji.

The rest of the game consisted of her pawns taking the square of Gahiji's and moving his pawn back, and vice versa. Gahiji's pawns were the first to be spread out on the board, none left in the top row and so giving him the ability to begin moving his pawns off the board.

Faye's blue pawn was the first to land on the last square in the bottom row, though she would be unable to move any of her pawns off the board and start winning until she moved all her pawns from the top row. Faye suppressed a groan when Gahiji threw and his green pawn took the place of her blue one on the last square. Instead she flashed him a smile, which he returned and caused Faye to grimace in disgust.

There was slight triumph inside of her when Gahiji landed on a bad square and he was automatically shifted back into the middle row. Her triumph was short lived when a moment later, Gahiji managed to move two of his pawns off the board. Worry filled her that her luck might have run out when Gahiji's piece was suddenly trapped and he was forced to miss a turn.

Faye felt her confidence strengthen when she moved her first pawn off the board. Gahiji's next turn made his green pawn shift places with her pawn, bringing him closer to the end of the board. Another green pawn moved off the board.

Green was once again blocked in the next throw, and in Gahiji's next turn he landed on a bad square yet again. Faye managed to move another blue pawn from the board, repeated again in her next turn.

This was where luck was going to either love or hate her, Faye knew, as she glared at the four pawns remaining on the board. She had two pawns remaining in the middle row. Gahiji looked like he had better chance of winning, with his two green pawns in the bottom row. Faye grinned gleefully when Gahiji landed on a bad square for the third time.

Faye moved a pawn off the board after another three throws. She sucked in her breath when her last pawn was blocked in and she was forced to miss her turn and watch Gahiji play his next move.

Gahiji moved a pawn off the board. They each had one pawn remaining on the board, side by side, only four squares to the end. Gahiji's pawn was closer to the end. Faye lifted her gaze to stare right back at Gahiji. The tension had mounted to an ultimate high, the atmosphere oppressive. The shadow men around them appeared to be leaning forward eagerly, caught up in the game.

The stakes were high. Faye was aware that they didn't realize she knew what that runic stave meant to them and what could be done with it. Her fingers itched to feel it in her grasp...all that power. She'd be invincible, if only for a short while.

"You should get that stave ready. I want it in my hand when I win, I don't want to wait or ask for it, understand." Faye said flatly.

"Faye... this is a game of chance." Gahiji chuckled, amused. "You don't exactly have very good luck – look at where you've ended up, look at what's become of you..."

"A game of chance, yes." Faye cut him off, scooping the sticks up without hesitation and casting them into the air. An ugly smile played across her lips. "I've always had good karma, Gahiji."

The sticks fell on the table surface, glaring back a definite four. Faye moved her pawn to the second last square even as she picked up the sticks and threw them again, her finger resting confidently on her piece. The sticks fell. Two landed face up. Faye flicked her pawn off the board and leaned back into her seat, resting one hand lazily on the armrest and holding the other toward the shadows.

The stave was surprisingly hot and smooth in her palm but she firmly kept her reactions placid as her fingers curled around it. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing her wince from the scorching heat.

"Good game," Faye flashed Gahiji a tight smile before promptly rising to her feet and strolling to the nearest door.

The Shadow World was deceiving to get through and she ended up getting lost three times before she eventually ended up in a forest, unable to find the lair where Gahiji spent some of his time. Faye settled herself in the shade of a tree, gazing up at the sunlight filtering through the thick branches and leaves above. The ground was damp and the pleasant scent of morning dew hung around her.

Faye placed the stave on her lap, waving her hands to cool them as she stared at the runes carved deeply into the wood. It thrummed with life and she felt her heart leap in her chest. She'd won. She'd finally won.

"Djinn are created from smokeless fire." Gahiji's voice didn't startle her and Faye had to admit to herself that she was glad he'd followed her. She wouldn't be able to get back to the lair without him leading her there. "That's why the stave is warm."

"Ah...right. Thank you for sharing this intimate information with me." Faye retorted sarcastically.

"Come now, Faye. Give it to me and I will give you whatever else you want." Gahiji hovered above her, intending to intimidate but Faye was oblivious to his physique.

"Hmmm. No." Faye said slowly, eyeing the stave as she held it gingerly with her fingertips, admiring it for a moment.

"What use could you possibly have with it?" Gahiji demanded, something dark and menacing protruding through his voice that made Faye shudder distractedly.

"Did you know that a snail moves at a rate of fifty eight centimetres per hour?" Faye responded boldly to his question. She looked up sharply when he didn't respond and met his puzzled gaze evenly.

"And you're telling me that why?" Gahiji frowned after a moment.

"I'm telling you that because I sat and watched a snail for an hour to measure the distance it moved." Faye glared at him. "I'm _bored_, Gahiji."

"What has that got to do with the stave?" Gahiji went down on his haunches before her, glaring right back into her face.

Despite the waves of danger emanating from him, Faye smiled.

"I want a playmate."

**A/N:**_** Reviews, reviews, please please, I love reviews! Don't worry – the infamous Shadow Man we all adore will make his grand entrance next! :D**_


	3. Aljunnu

Faye crossed her legs beneath her on the luxurious downy pillows. Shifting into a more comfortable position, she lifted the stave closer to her eyes and twirled the sharp knucklebone that glowed like a diamond in her hand. The knucklebone itself had a long razor sharp edge, needle thin and brimming with power.

Casting another weary look about the warm room, Faye closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It had taken her a little while to create her shadow man in her mind before she was brave enough to actually go through with it. According to Gahiji, who had to be bribed to the fullest extremes for the necessary information, the appearance of the shadow man depended on the image that she herself saw in her mind's eye. The powers that the djinn would possess depended on the runes she would use to combine and form into one solid rune, which would be what she carved into the stave. Faye had been apprehensive about it when Gahiji assured her that she didn't have to actually carve in the phonetic alphabet of the runes to make up a name.

"For each rune you carve, a new shadow man will be born. For example, if you wish to carve in the physical name ,Sam, then you will be creating three different shadow men. As you well should know, we are not created as humans are. There is no emotion in us and we do not name one another. You humans are intellectually undeveloped – your thought processes are too simple." Gahiji had finally replied curtly to her nagging questions before disappearing into a whirlwind of snow and leaving her alone in his lair.

Faye had a good knowledge on runes and she'd finally come up with what she believed was the perfect rune. It was all of the runes in the Elder Futhark combined into one, an intimidating shape of odd lines merged together. Though, unlike all the other runes that skimmed across the smooth surface of the stave representing the thousands of shadow men, Faye had used certain runes in the reverse form. Oh, her shadow man would be different alright – and more powerful, too.

She envisioned her shadow man in her mind, then opened her eyes to blink at the stave. For a moment she merely watched the runes shift and change in constant motion – she could recognize some but they were all, of course, more than one rune in combination.

Biting her tongue in concentration, Faye brought the knucklebone's point down onto the stave. She paused, watching the dot of swimming liquid diamond appear between the stave and the bone. Slowly and precisely, she drew the rune, ignoring the other runes dancing about the edge of the bone.

Wings made of angel dust and dark velvet. Lithe and muscular build…broad shoulders… as powerful in structure as he was on the inside… thick white hair like the snow outside the window… perfect features like the statues of the gods that used to adorn the Roman gardens… with the grace of a cat and the reflexes of a snake… his voice something elemental and beautiful like his ancestors' but something that would stand out from the rest… her mind drifted to the sound of the stream rushing over rock in the forest, recalling the comfort she found in the peaceful melody, something that would easily go amiss if you weren't very quiet and listening out for it… heavy lidded cat-tilted eyes…she wasn't sure what colour she wanted them to be… different from the others, something that would stand out…blue… she hadn't seen a shadow man with blue eyes before, but the exact hue was vague in her mind as she tried to grasp onto one solid azure…indigo seeped into azure then turned to opal and finally, just before she lifted the bone from the stave, she glanced at the hot flames licking the air in the fireplace beside her and briefly caught sight of the brilliant, indescribable blue at the core of the flames.

Faye straightened up and placed the knucklebone on the pillow beside her, studying her handiwork on the stave with a critical eye. Oh, well. It was straight, at least. Faye turned the stave in her hands before gently lowering it onto her lap as though the wood itself was an infant. Now for the special trick she had hidden up her sleeve. Sending a weary glance around the room, she bit hard into her finger and yelped at the surprising force her teeth had. She watched blood well up and resisted the reflex to shake her hand in pain or suck her throbbing finger. She let the blood drip onto the rune instead – the only rune that was clear and unmoving on the stave. She watched scarlet melt into 

diamond liquid, briefly turning a faded pink before returning to its blinding brilliance. The stave thrummed on her lap, sending unsettling tingles across her legs.

"Okay, here goes." Faye said and pulled closer several items that belonged to her that she knew she would never lose and would never arise any interest in the shadow men. Amongst these few possessions were a simple gold band, an ancient ring that she had found after a poor soul had lost it in some fear-stricken condition here in the Shadow World. She dipped a fingertip in the deep grooves of the rune and smeared the diamond liquid on her belongings. Not much, just a drop on each would be sufficient. If the shadow men were going to destroy her own, which she thought was highly likely seeing as Gahiji wasn't all that happy about her creating one in the first place, then she should make precautions. Not to protect her shadow man – she would make sure he was fully capable of that on his own. This was meant as a last resort – she would be able to conjure up her creation wherever she was with something as simple as a touch to one of these items. Of course, she doubted she would ever have to resort to this, since she could always just carve his existence back into the stave.

Faye took a deep breath again, bracing herself as she licked her lips and eyed the glowing rune. She said each rune she'd used clearly, pronouncing the names distinctly. The thrum of the stave intensified and she paused, uncertain for the first time.

"Come forth, _aljunnu._" Faye snapped when nothing happened. She would rather face her worst nightmare again and again than run to find Gahiji and have him laugh at her for needing his help to complete this; not that he would, even if she did beg him.

Her rune suddenly seemed to shrink in size until it was as small as the other runes – and then it started moving, disappearing into the mass of circulating and changing runes on the stave. There was an odd sensation in the room for a moment; intense waves of heat throbbed and crashed into the walls from an invisible fire, the sound itself was so alien and frightening that Faye could barely breathe. Like crackling flames and crushing ice, and something else, like a very distorted drumbeat without rhythm.

A startled cry ripped free from her lips and Faye leapt to hide behind one of the couches when she saw a small silver orb in the centre of the room, growing in size and intensity. She landed hard on her knees and covered her ears, pinching closed her eyes as the light became brighter, reflecting whiteness off the walls and consuming everything else. It was like being struck blind and Faye pressed her palms against her closed eyes, curling into a tight ball and trying to press her face into her stomach. She could feel searing heat try to fry her eyeballs and she gritted her teeth.

She didn't uncurl from her position until she heard a loud thud and then silence. The heat dissipated quickly and she was cautious to open her eyes. She stared blankly ahead of her for a few minutes, certain she was now blind until gradually her vision returned and the white veil across her eyes faded into colour.

There was another thump and then something crashed to the floor. Breath caught in excitement, Faye lifted herself up and peeked curiously over the back of the couch. For a long time all she could do was stare before she broke out in an involuntary smile of victory. _Perfect_.

The boy was standing near the fireplace, his posture one of smooth elegance, violet streaks playing across incredibly blue eyes as the hot red flames licked at the air. His hair was as white as crystal, as brilliant as snow, and it fell across his forehead messily. His body was like that of the god Apollo – perfectly sculpted, muscular, powerful – like a hunter. A vase lay broken on the floor and the piercing blue gaze shifted toward it for a moment.

Wings that seemed to exist from mist and shadows protruded in smooth arches from his back.

Oh, yes, yes. Definitely what she'd have thought an angel to look like.

Faye stepped out from behind the couch. The cold gaze lifted to fix on her as she stepped closer. She was oblivious to his gaze changing into something like confusion and awe – she wasn't used to newcomers having much sense other than to lash out when they felt threatened, an animal instinct, and here in the Shadow World they all had good reason to feel threatened all the time.

She reached up and ran her fingers through the white tendrils of hair, admiring how cool and soft the texture was against her warm skin, so delicate and fine that she nearly couldn't feel it at all. Satisfied and proud with herself, Faye circled him, inspecting him from every angle and gloating in her own masterpiece.

She didn't notice him narrow his gaze at her in disdain until shadows wrapped itself around his physique and turned into clothes, concealing his skin from her view. Faye glanced up at him in surprise and felt her cheeks flush bright pink.

"Oh, no, I wasn't..." She shook her head helplessly.

The look the shadow man before her responded with warned her that he wasn't lacking in intellect as his ancestors and kin did in the very beginning. She watched weakly as he walked out of the room. Well. This wasn't a good start.


	4. Brothers Grimm Fairytale

He didn't know what else to do.

His inexperience counted against him in the form of battle. He knew he'd put up a pretty good fight to fend off his elders, but there was only one of him and too many of _them_. He stood no chance. The hunter instinct inside of him recoiled in disregard as his feet skimmed across the snow covered soil, his legs carrying him swiftly across the rough terrain to the lair where he'd been created not too long ago. Despite the burning desire he had to turn around and try again to turn the game around and be the one doing the hunting, he knew it would be futile. He was too badly wounded, his strength dented.

He narrowed his gaze as he quickly approached the lair ahead of him, looming like a golden dome of refuge in the stark blackness of the world. He glared when Gahiji appeared in his path, blocking the entrance. Putting more energy into his feet and quickening his pace, he braced himself and put his head down.

The impact was loud and sent sparks of pain shooting through him. He rolled off his elder quickly, a glimmer of gleeful triumph bubbling up inside of him when he noticed he was inside the lair. He quickly backtracked up against the wall and glared furiously back at his elder.

"You are uninvited, _get out_!" Gahiji roared but stopped short when the echoing sound of a sharp slap cut through the room.

The girl glared at Gahiji with eyes as hot and scorching as fire, her hand resting on his chest where she'd hit him. She was literally fuming – he could nearly make out the curls of steam rising from her golden skin.

"What the hell do you think you're _doing_?" She shouted, her voice soaked in venom and her tone dangerous.

It was a moment before he realized she wasn't shouting at Gahiji but at him. He returned her gaze malevolently. He'd at least have expected his creator to have a bit more compassion for him, but then it was wrong that he would even think that at all – there was no warmth in this world, no place where he could possibly be safe, nothing he could rely on for his survival except for his own power, and at that moment he was so badly weakened he could barely stand.

The girl stepped away when Gahiji snickered maliciously.

He flattened himself against the wall as she stepped up to him. It was no mystery how shadow men tamed and taught their own creations, though she didn't rip into him as he'd expected, not physically at least. Her small hands were surprisingly firm when she cupped his chin roughly and her eyes were smouldering with anger as she studied his face.

"They tore off your wings, did they?" She frowned angrily and yanked his face closer to hers. "I did not create a_ weakling_. You are _not_ their toy."

Their eyes locked. Understanding dawned on him. He didn't have to play their game – he simply had to cut it short. He could sense the determination, the rage vibrating off the petite girl before him. _At him_. She wasn't angry at his elders for messing him up – she was angry at _him_ for not stepping up to the plate. She knew better than he did what he was capable of. She created him, after all, he could hide nothing from her. Just like he couldn't mask the overwhelming urge he now had to step outside, weakened as he was, and show his elders a thing or two. His palms tingled in anticipation, and as though his creator could sense the sudden change in him, she stepped aside. He felt her eyes on him as he brushed past Gahiji, giving the older shadow man a glowering look before stepping out into the whirlwind of flashing teeth and reaching claws that awaited him hungrily.

**8080808080808080808**

Taking a deep steady breath he breezed into his lair – a gothic castle of sorts with each room and hallway decorated in another theme, from a space ship to a desert and even a forest. He loved his lair because it was so massively varied. He could change his appearance to suit whichever setting he 

stepped into. Though right that moment, he was too full and tired to shift into anything other than the red cloak he was wearing.

He spotted his ghostly wolf trailing behind him down the hallway and brought forth a fresh human leg from behind his back like a magic trick. His pet had done well in his last game – it deserved a treat. He whipped the leg into the air where it stayed, suspended. He watched in amusement as the Lurker jumped again and again to try reach it, snarling canines snapping at it hungrily. It wasn't long before the pleasure he got out of the game became dull and he lost interest. The leg was released from its suspended position and the wolf locked it into its powerful jaws before it could hit the ground. He watched the wolf slip down the hallway and out of sight before he turned and stepped through the mahogany door beside him, gargoyles carved beautifully into the wood and eyeing him wearily as he drifted past.

Smiling in morbid satisfaction, he reflected on his latest game. His appetite had been insatiable as of late so when he was summoned by a group of seven children who were curious about the things in the dark, it had been convenient. He tricked them and lured them into the shadow world; it wasn't that difficult to trick humans. Especially the children, who were so dumbly innocent that they were the prime target for many shadow men. The adults had a bit more sense but humans were curious by nature. He himself had his own share of human adults throughout time, but it was so much more entertaining to play with the children.

He'd simply gone on the knowledge of a fairytale their parents had told them the night before and played on that. He'd been the wolf disguised as their 'mother', and he'd taken immense pleasure in dragging out the game of hide and seek once they were fooled and 'allowed' him into their house.

He pulled the first child out from under the most obvious hiding place, the table, and enjoyed tearing into the human flesh, the painful screams of the child filling the room. He could still hear the ghostly echoes of the screams in the back of his mind. The other children had been too afraid to move from their hiding spots, but he found them, one by one.

The second child he'd set his wolf upon, and the Lurker had delighted in biting through the covers of the bed, mutilating the child trapped beneath the sheets. The third child had for some ridiculous reason hidden inside the oven and he'd turned it on, crouched down, and watched in twisted amusement as the child baked and roasted to death, the squealing screams slightly muffled by the thick oven door that he'd firmly kept closed. The fourth child had been huddled into a paralyzed ball in the corner of the kitchen, staring in blind terror, and seeing no challenge in killing that one he merely set the Creeper upon it, watching sadistically as the phantom snake painfully slowly swallowed down the child.

The fifth child had been hiding in the cupboard and he had taken great pleasure in suddenly appearing in the dark beside the child who, to his disappointment, seemed to convulse into some comatose state before dropping dead. The sixth child had been cowering beneath the washbasin and had been quite the sport, demanding what he wanted from them and attempting to negotiate. He'd listened indifferently to the child's bribes before sinking his teeth into it after his stomach gave another rumbling warning. The seventh child had been hilarious, however, hiding inside the grandfather clock case. It had leapt from its hiding post before he could even make his way toward it and fell to floor by his feet, begging and pleading in a sobbing wreck for mercy before it promptly scrambled to its feet and tried to run. He'd been laughing as he chased the child, which he eventually trapped in a corner and somehow the hunt had made that last one all the more tastier.

He crossed the crimson oriental rug in the spacious room and halted abruptly when he heard a heavy sigh. He turned and eyed the girl spread out on the two-seater couch. She was dressed in a white gown that flowed softly around her and contrasted against the wine red of the goth-style couch. She was running a distracted finger across the base legs of the couch, admiring the halogen lights curiously.

"What have you been up to?" Faye asked lazily.

"Der Wolf und die sieben jungen Geißlein." He answered, studying her for another moment before settling himself on a couch opposite her.

Her gaze was sharp when she looked up at him and she grimaced at him. "Wipe your mouth, Julian, for crying out loud, you're not an animal."

"Aren't I?" Julian grinned nastily but did as she asked. He observed her crucially. "Did you lose a game to Gahiji or something?"

"No." Her reply was curt and she didn't look at him. Instead she covered her face with her hands and her shoulders heaved. She mumbled something under her breath, and he caught her words.

"What do you mean you don't know what you are anymore?" Julian snorted and Faye lifted a troubled gaze to stare back at him. "You're one of us – you're like me. Just... a little different." Julian frowned hard and sat up, wringing his hands together. "Alright then. Who did what, I'll go put them in their place."

"_Aljunnu_, please don't be stupid." Faye groaned, slumping back into the couch. "You're very naive. Nothing is wrong. This is just the way that I am."

Julian held his hands up in mock surrender but his gaze didn't leave her. Something was definitely wrong. She met his gaze evenly and sighed.

"The Wolf and the Seven Young Children?" Faye pressed lightly. "Isn't that a German fairytale or something? Was it someone's nightmare?"

"No. I was the wolf." Julian replied and arched his eyebrows animatedly when Faye looked sick for a moment. "I was _hungry_," He said in a defence.

"Something tells me the fairytale didn't end with the mother returning home and cutting open the wolf to free her children." Faye wrinkled her nose. "How could you eat _goats_ anyway? Do they taste nice?"

Julian burst into laughter until he realized she was serious. "Why would I eat a _goat_ when there's a bunch of perfectly juicy human children just for me?"

"Oh." Faye went gravely pale for a second before she stormed from the room.

Julian cursed inwardly and rose to his feet, wondering furiously what he'd done now to upset his elder. She was always pushing him to be better at everything. He'd thought she would be congratulating him on the blood feast he'd just bathed in, unless she had expected him to bring her some of his prey and share. Which was a foolish thought in essence since Julian didn't like sharing.

He found Faye standing in the hallway, leaning her forehead against the glass and peering at the world outside. She looked so forlorn and he felt so helpless. What could he do, though? His prey was gone, unless he went for the next imbecile who summoned him and brought them back specially for her, but he found it hard to even contemplate doing something so...selfless.

"Faye, if..." Julian caught himself, confusion breaking lose within him like a dangerous riptide as he seized her wrist when she reached up to her face. She looked at him sharply, tense, still. He reached out and caught the drop of water that had run from her eye across her cheek and brought it to his lips. Warm and salty. Tears.

"Release my hand, Julian." She rapped out sternly.

For the first time in his existence, Julian didn't obey, staring at her as something ugly writhed inside of him, threatening to spill out and rip the girl before him into shreds.

"Our kind don't shed tears." Julian responded coldly.

"Is that so? Well did you ever think that maybe I'm _different_ from your kind? Have you looked around and noticed that I'm the only female in this damned world, Julian? Have you ever thought _why_?" Faye wrenched her hand free of his grasp and glared at him. "You'd never understand. I can't leave here, not like you. I can't be summoned. I can't get out no matter what I do! I hate this place." She sobbed before she fled his lair.

It never was a secret to anyone that Faye was indeed different from all the other shadow men. For one, she was the only female as she'd pointed out – the second was that she had never created another shadow man apart from Julian, which was absurd seeing as he'd created several throughout the years.

He resolved to bring back a prey for Faye in his next summoning, believing that she was upset because she was unable to hunt herself. The fact that she'd _cried_ was still disturbing to him but she 

was his creator. It didn't need to be said that he wanted her approval. It would be a peace trade between them, Julian decided. To make up for whatever she found lacking in him.

When another portal opened as another prey summoned his kind, Julian didn't think twice about racing his elders to get to it. He got through with a few others and there had been the momentary bewilderment when he stood face to face with an elder human man shouting something oddly familiar and pointing a trembling finger at a closet.

Julian scanned the basement, briefly taking in the magical objects that defied the old man as a sorcerer and watching from the corner of his eye as one by one his elders backed up into the closet at each word the man uttered. Julian took a startled step back when he realized _what_ the sorcerer was shouting and what his intentions were.

Julian tried to take on solid shape but his hands were still just a shadowy blur. If he could ground himself, connect to the Earth before... He knew it was too late and with this realization, he prepared himself to launch at the old man. He was _not_ going to allow a _human_ to trap him.

A primal growl rose from his lips in outrage when he smacked into some magical shield that seemed to surround the sorcerer. He noticed the shield buckle at the impact and again he lashed out with all his strength, ignoring the blistering pain it caused him.

I. Would. Rather. Die. Julian thought as he gritted his teeth and rammed into the shield with each word resounding in his head.

He watched the last of his elders backing up into the closet by the powerful spell. He glared at the sorcerer and for a moment their eyes met. He thought he was going to get out of this when the sorcerer didn't seem able to move or speak. That's the effect the appearances of the shadow men had on humans – it left them breathless in fear and captivated, like deer trapped in the headlights of a car. He was taking on his solid form, the shadowy blur slowly defining his outline.

It wasn't until there was the sound of a doorknob rattling and a child's voice floated down the basement steps that the sorcerer seemed to be ripped from the hypnotic trance Julian had ceased him in.

"Grandpa, Zachary won't play nicely..." A little girl's voice floated through the room.

"_Nauthiz_!" The sorcerer whispered, snapping his finger in the direction of the closet.

Julian was helpless as the force knocked him back and the closet door slammed shut with a final bang. Darkness all around. His elders were hissing but none were as furious as Julian, who had never before been trapped and found it appalling that any human should _dare_ succeed.

"Jenny-kins, what have I told you about coming down here while I'm working?" Julian heard the sorcerer scolding the child outside the closet door.

There was the sound of footsteps as the child explained how she'd thought it was okay since he needed a break anyway and then the pleas for him to help them make mud cakes. Julian moved to the back corner of the closet and sank down onto his haunches furiously.

Just wait until he got out... just wait...


	5. The Ring

It was only a couple of months before the inevitable happened and the shadow men were released. Julian had listened to the voice of the little child, always light and sweet, babbling to her grandfather. On occasion a little boy's voice was also audible in the random and petty conversations outside the closet. It had been pure boredom that forced Julian to actually pay attention to what was being said. The little girl appeared to want to save everything she came into contact with. Just that morning she had brought an egg to her grandfather, begging him to fix it, and her sincere heart-warming sobs when she was told there was no chance for the chic inside to survive now that the shell was broken had unwillingly plastered a smile on Julian's face. Cute.

It was odd that he began to see her as more than just a meal, more than just prey, more than just another play thing. Of course, his perspective on the little boy that sometimes came with her was still the same and he was thankful for the fill he'd had before he'd been trapped here, and his desire for cruel revenge on the sorcerer was still fresh in his mind and building in certainty inside of him. There was something about the child that was different. Something he wouldn't have taken the time or effort to notice if he wasn't restrained and forced to. She would have been yet another victim to devour, another prey to toy with before his hunters' instincts got the better of him and he pounced; he doubted he would have even noticed the gender of the child as they were all the same to him – chunks of juicy meat to devour and souls to enslave.

Julian leaned his head back against the wall. The closet was small and cramped with his elders, who kept a relative distance from him. He loathed them as much as they hated him; he'd have classified being trapped with them in such an intimate space for such a long period of time as utter hell. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply, wondering when his creator was going to decide to come looking for him.

He thought his wistful wish had come true when the door suddenly opened and the oppressive blizzard of magic restrained in the closet seeped out into the basement in the form of frosty ice. Instead of seeing the smug expression of Faye leering back at them gleefully, a child roughly five years of age stood with one hand clasped on the doorknob, forest green eyes round and staring in blind terror, complexion ashen and mouth forming a silent O of surprise. The cold wind whipped around the mass of golden hair and rooted her to the spot.

Julian rushed toward the door along with his elders, their power clashing and brushing against one another, turning them into a storm of wills to be the first to get out of the damned confinement. He listened half heartedly as his elders hissed their hunger for the child.

"I want her." Julian piped up, convinced that he had more right to the child than any of the others did. There was something about her...

His demand seemed to fall on deaf ears and he repeated himself, louder and with more certainty this time to make his point clear. He said, "I _want_ her"; what he meant was 'touch her and it will be the last thing you do'.

A whirlwind of shadows and ice stretched at his command and seized the child, who to Julian's vague amusement suddenly became animated and struggled against it. She fell and the wind dragged her across the floor as she clawed helplessly at the ice, reeling her in toward the closet. It was then just as he got close enough and was about to extend his arm to seize the child for himself, that the sorcerer wrenched her out of his reach and tried to close the door on him.

The ice had caked up in thick layers across the floor though, making it impossible for the old man to close the door properly. The wrath of the shadow men was fiercer than pitiful human desperation and fear.

Julian was impressed, and somewhat disappointed, when the sorcerer bargained with his elders to take the place of the child. He had more meat on him and was thus the more satisfying prey to consume, which was the sole reason why his elders heeded the old man any attention.

Julian knew his input would be of no use and so he stood aside, sulking, watching the petrified and stunned child for another hungry moment. One of his ancestors opened the doorway back to the Shadow World and they swiftly emptied through the hole like liquid shadows, the ice and frost withdrawing from the basement back into the closet as they sucked the old man into their clutches. 

Julian sent one last look at the child, who was staring right back at him in terror, and resolved that he would have her no matter the cost - if not now, then later.

**80808080808080808080808**

Julian strolled through his lair in search of his pets when he noted Faye watching television, comfortable in a cocoon of warm blankets in brilliant hues of lavender and sipping what appeared to be a cup of soup. Julian halted, sending a disinterested glance at the crystal-like television screen, portraying images of another game Gahiji was playing with several different humans at that moment. Faye's gaze shifted from the screen to fix on Julian and he watched her irises turn darker at the sight of him.

Julian didn't need to explain where he'd been and Faye didn't demand to know either. Instead she asked in an oddly clipped tone. "How did you get out?"

"A child opened the door."

Faye visibly cringed at his words and he frowned slightly at her reaction. "And?"

"Someone else took her place."

Faye chewed her lip, seeming to think this over before letting out her breath and returning her gaze to the television. Julian turned to leave the room.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to play."

"What sort of play?" Faye turned to him, frowning.

"That's none of your concern." Julian replied curtly before disappearing from the room. Something told him that Faye wouldn't be thrilled with his determination to win the child for himself. He would create a different sort of game – a special game – just for the girl. It was against the gridlines of his world to purposely lure victims to him. There were plenty of people who willingly presented themselves on golden plates to them as it were without him needing to coax any more prey.

But this was different. He wanted to watch her for a little while longer. He found a different kind of pleasure in watching the little girl interact with others. He felt an odd sense of _purpose_ when he protected her from dangers which she appeared oblivious to, and a placid blissfulness filled him when he watched over her sleeping form at night.

There was more to the girl than childish innocence. There was a spark of goodness in her that only glowed brighter as life continued, despite the trials and errors that time threw at her – she survived each experience and rose above the surface, growing in strength every passing day. She had a fire inside of her that warmed him and _moved_ him, feeding his determination to have her until he was convinced he would cease to exist if he couldn't have her.

Julian learnt a lot about humans in the passing years, paying special attention to those that were closest to her and he was wrapped up in the girl as she blossomed into a beautiful teenager.

Faye's demands to see him had become nothing but an irritant to him and he forced himself to spend brief moments with his former companion. He decided to spend a couple of hours with Faye when he resolved that today would be the day he lured the innocent lambs into his trap. He wanted Faye off his back while he was busy and hopefully this way she would get her fill of him for a little while, at least until he won the game. He could picture Faye's expression when he brought his prize home, but then Julian wasn't all that sure he would allow any of his elders near Jenny, not even Faye.

Faye was oddly quiet though and Julian watched her moodily as he leaned back against a tree, the forest around them eerily silent. She liked this room of his for some reason, he couldn't quite understand what it was about it that captivated her so and she didn't seem eager to share that with him anyway.

"How would you show affection to someone, if per chance you were able to feel such emotion?" He finally asked, breaking the silence between them.

Faye looked up at him slowly and squinted at him for a moment, as though she didn't quite understand what he was asking before she numbly held her hand to him. Julian reached out automatically and folded his own around hers. He pulled back when he felt something cool and round in his palm and he studied the gold band curiously.

"A ring? Like a betrothal?" He questioned before heated blue gaze fixed on her indifferent expression.

"When another person promises themselves to you, it means that they choose you above all else. You are number one on their list of priorities all the time. I think that in itself is the most powerful gesture of affection that could ever be shown." Faye paused for a moment, gazing off into the distance and she shrugged. "That, and taking a bullet for the other person without a second thought."

"Do you sit all day and think about this nonsense?" Julian mocked her indignantly though he took her words to heart. "What's going on with you, Faye?"

Faye was silent for a long time and Julian occupied himself by flicking the ring into the air and catching it. His mind was running over the details of the game he was about to start and part of him resented Faye at that moment. He could be out there right now, watching Jenny instead of wasting his time here...

"What's going on with you, is more like it." Faye's voice cut through him and Julian paused, looking at her with a smirk. "You're different somehow."

"_You_ are the one who is acting weird, Faye. Maybe that's changed your perspective on everything else." Julian pointed out reasonably.

Faye faltered and stared back at him, then frowned. "Why were you asking about affection anyway?"

"Curiosity." Julian shrugged nonchalantly.

"Curiosity is a human attribute. It doesn't belong with Shadow Men." Faye narrowed her eyes at him. "What has Gahiji told you? What game are you playing at, Julian, because it's _not_ funny."

Julian gave her a look that clearly said 'what the hell' and Faye looked away, shaking her head.

"Where is all this coming from? Is there something Gahiji _has_ to tell me?" Julian stared at her with blue eyes swimming with something dark and malicious.

"No." Faye answered after a long moment of tense silence and sighed deeply. "You just made me think... I don't know. That you're like me." Faye looked away, regret flushing across her features. "Wishful thinking, I guess. I just need to be alone right now, Julian, if you don't mind."

"Not at all." Julian sighed, happy to be dismissed and relieved of the awkward situation, free to get back to his own matters.

As he sauntered through the forest and stepped through the door into the dim hallway, Julian suppressed the foreboding feeling that Faye somehow knew what he was about to do. She wouldn't meddle though, she never did and he'd be quite pissed if she decided to start interfering now.

His steps echoed down the hallway and he shuddered. Faye was more frightening than any of his ancestors. Not that she was completely different from the others or appeared a threat, but because sometimes when they talked and he looked into her eyes, instead of seeing the numb coldness that were visible in his elder's eyes, there was something very much alive and _warm_ in the depths of those rich chestnut brown eyes. Something similar to the terror he saw in his prey's eyes when he would be ravaging them – something _human_.


	6. Jenny's Betrayal

**A/N:**_** Thanks for the reviews! These are just the before and 'in between' bits that took place before Julian became obsessed with Jenny and then 'cut scenes' while they were playing the game.**_

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Julian was fuming as he burst into Gahiji's lair unceremoniously. He stopped and glared with stealthy loathing at Faye where she was playing with a golden Labrador in the back garden. She looked up when she heard him, the smile plastered on her face disappearing and the dog she was aggressively scratching on the head faded into thin air.

"Julian." Faye rose to her feet and nodded at him, a slight frown on her face.

"What do you want? Make it quick, I'm kind of in the middle of something." Julian hissed at her through gritted teeth.

The game wasn't going as well as he'd have liked with Jenny having saved some of her friends already. It wasn't even a victory for him to have one of her friends lose their turn in the nightmare paper house because as much as he wanted, he couldn't kill the stupid brainless fluff by the name of Summer because Jenny simply would never forgive him if he did.

It was as though the more he pursued Jenny, the more stubborn she became to not yield to him. There were the small triumphs, of course, he'd gotten her as far as to allowing him to touch her hair and her hand, even if it had taken sly tricks for him to achieve that. It had been somewhat degrading when he had to shift into her cousins' form but it had been worthwhile in the end. The sweet kiss still lingered on his lips, nearly driving him mad and longing for more, but he didn't want to force Jenny to love him. He wanted her to come to him willingly. _Love_. The word shook through him and fuelled his rage.

Shadow Men weren't meant to feel love. It was impossible, it wasn't natural, but as much as Julian would try to feign ignorance, there was no denying that the searing warmth he felt when he thought of Jenny was without question _love_.

Faye was glaring at him suspiciously for a moment and Julian returned the look malevolently.

"What exactly are you doing?" Faye demanded.

"I'm busy... torturing some loser with his worst fear." Julian responded. It wasn't a complete lie – Tom's fear of rats was quite amusing and Julian hadn't relented on the little rodents scuttling over the idiot since the game first started a little while ago.

"Ah. Which would be?" Faye licked her lips, arching her eyebrows curiously.

"Rats."

"Hah." Faye sighed and gave him a cunning smile. "He must be rattled then if that's his worst fear."

Julian smirked at her wordplay, his anger diminishing slightly at her humour. He made a slight bow to acknowledge her statement.

"The master of nightmares. Well." Faye placed her hands on her hips and looked away. "I won't keep you then."

Julian nodded and made to leave when he turned at the last second. He caught an expression on Faye's face that suddenly made her appear more vulnerable than any shadow creature should ever be able to. She looked... lonely.

Their eyes locked for a brief instant before Faye turned away from him and Julian returned to his game.

**808080880088080808080808**

Julian had been caught off guard when Jenny had finally given in to him. There was something wrong about how she would so easily, so _suddenly_, agree to stay with him.

He didn't know whether it was because she realized there was no chance of her winning, or because she was doing this in the hopes that he would at least let her friends live. Of course she only had to ask him to release her friends and he would gladly oblige, but she didn't need to know that. It was safer this way because it gave her the false impression that _he_ was in control.

"_All I refuse and thee I chuse_," the words rolled from her lips.

Part of him knew she didn't mean it. It was said in desperation; it was forced. Still, Julian took the greatest delight in kissing her – a soft, warm kiss. He could feel Tom shatter into pieces and it just added to his triumph. He'd known he would win, after all. They didn't need to kiss to seal the promise – it was a done deal the moment Jenny uttered the words, but Julian wasn't going to let this opportunity slip by either.

Julian distractedly dismissed the pitiful worn out beings Jenny called her friends and took her down the steps into the basement that resembled her grandfather's. They sat side by side on the couch. He could stare at her like this forever, Julian thought before leaning closer. There was no hesitation in the kiss this time as Jenny responded willingly. The kisses were slow, growing with intensity every passing moment until finally, very reluctantly, Jenny broke away from him breathlessly.

He watched Jenny straighten up, cheeks flushed a rosy pink as she rose to her feet and wandered about the room aimlessly before walking toward the closet. Julian stood up and circled the couch, walking to stand beside her as she peered cautiously into the open closet.

"I'm sorry," Jenny said quietly, eyes nailed to the darkness in the closet. "I'm sorry he did it. He wasn't a bad man."

Amusement and guilt conflicted inside of him. It was ridiculous that Jenny would defend her grandfather when Julian knew the man wasn't all that innocent. Though that's where Jenny differed from him, it's what enchanted him about her – the fact that she could see the good in every one, even in the lowest of the low. Julian hoped for Jenny's sake she never discovered what his elders had done with her grandfather. He wasn't all that blameless in the fate of the old sorcerer either.

Jenny turned to him. "I can hardly believe he kept you here."

"Believe it," Julian said grimly.

Jenny shook her head. "I'll always love him. But he was wrong to do what he did." She stepped into the closet. "Not as small as it looks."

"Small enough." He stepped in too, looked around uneasily. "This place brings up bad memories."

It did. The recollection of being trapped in this small confinement with his ancestors had been brutal and the memory of the chilling days was haunting. There were the good memories about it too, of course – listening to a little Jenny playing and laughing hadn't been all _that_ horrible. He wouldn't be _here_ if that hadn't happened.

"See if we can't make a better one." Jenny smiled up at him, backed against one wall.

Julian turned and smiled down at her. In the confined space they were very close. Jenny stood shyly, one leg crossed behind the other. He bent his head again, his mouth warm and demanding. Jenny gave herself up to it, and the kiss opened like a slow-blooming flower. He could sense there was something else going through her mind, however hot and passionate the moment was, and the sudden sense that something was very _very_ wrong was what made him pull away from her. Julian was no stranger to the feeling of being threatened, however dumb the picture appeared of Jenny holding any threat to him. His instincts were screaming at him. He had to get out.

"It's rather uncomfortable in here." He said softly, calmly.

"Do you think so?" She smiled up at him, breath slowing.

Julian suppressed the impulse to leap from the closet right that moment, warning sirens shrieked through the blinded haze of emotion enveloping him.

"Definitely."

"Well, then, I suppose we could – " Jenny was out of his reach in the blink of an eye and he turned in time for the closet door to slam shut right in his face. "Nauthiz!" He heard her shout.

Julian felt his eyes widen in surprise, staring at the door blankly for a moment before a groan escaped his lips and he banged his head hard against the door in defeat.

"Damn it!" He cursed. He knew Jenny was smart, but he didn't expect her to resort to trickery – to _his_ level. "_Damn it_!" He cursed again, this time with anger swelling in his gut and he slammed his fists furiously against the door, knowing it would be to no avail. He was thankful for a brief moment that the door restrained him – he didn't trust what he would do to her if he'd been able to get out right that moment.

When he heard Faye calling his name a while later, he meekly called out. His anger was reinforced when she burst out laughing and taunted him for being stuck in a closet again. Instead of letting him out, she leaned against the other side of the door.

"Tsk-tsk, my boy! I'd have thought you'd learnt the first time around, Julian!"

"Just open the damn door, Faye."

She laughed coldly. "Nah. I'm kind of... busy at the moment."

"Faye!" Julian kicked at the door furiously.

"Cheers, Julian."

"I'm going to _kill_ you!" Julian roared and was forced to listen to her fading laughter as she retreated from the basement.

**808080808080808080808**

"Where the hell are you, you stupid little mongrel?" Faye called, stepping out of a hall of mirrors and into the fresh twilight air. She placed her hands on her hips, surveying the silent amusement park spread around her.  
Her feet were aching from walking on the hard elements of the world. She hadn't been able to find a pair of shoes anywhere, and Gahiji wasn't that forthcoming with magically providing any for her either. Julian, as was usual lately, was nowhere to be found. Faye thought he might be hiding out somewhere, with that stupid wolf of his, laughing his little head off at her discomfort.

"Where are you?" Faye shouted again. There was only one animal that would have made her shoes disappear, and that was the Lurker. She was going to make it squeal and force Julian to watch, to get her point across. Once she could find the damn dog.  
Wherever it was hiding, it definitely wasn't here. She'd been through this amusement park three times already. Faye treaded back to Julian's lair, grumbling under her breath about being damned.  
She stopped in her tracks once she was back inside the Palace of Nightmares and the Obscene, glancing indecisively up and down the narrow hallway. She might as well go through all the rooms again. Maybe she'll eventually get lucky.

There was nothing in the sterile alien room, no answer when she called out into the Black Forest room, no sound but annoying house-music in what appeared to be a store. She froze mid-stride when a loud thump sounded up right behind her, and Faye whirled around to see a very strange thing lying on the black carpet behind her. She frowned hard, and crouched down to squint at it.  
"What the hell-?" Faye poked at it, moving it this way and that until finally recognition of what it was dawned on her.

The Creeper – with its head blown off. Faye straightened up and wiped her palms on her legs.  
"Now who did that?" Faye said. She studied the mutilated body for another moment. One of the others? But they wouldn't harm Julian's pets out of spite, not unless Julian gave them reason to. With Julian being absent quite frequently for long lengths of time, Faye doubted his elders were behind it. Then who? Or what?  
Faye finally walked away, leaving the corpse there. Julian could deal with it when he showed up. She wasn't touching it anymore than she already had. The next room revealed a very messy bedroom. Faye was about to close the door, when she realized the china blue dress on the bed was occupied by a body. She sent a weary glance around the room, then curiously inched her way closer.

A girl with bouncing blonde curls was lying there. Asleep. Faye could hear the deep breathing, could see the pulse in the slender neck. She nudged the girl uncertainly against the shoulder. She didn't stir.  
"Hey," Faye hissed, and nudged the girl harder.  
Round blue eyes fluttered open, and Faye backed away a step when the girl sat up, disoriented.  
"Where..." The girl blinked hard, and squinted at Faye. "Where is Jenny?"  
"Who's Jenny?" Faye asked.  
"She's my friend. Where... who are you?"  
"No, who are you? How did you get here? Did Julian bring you here?"

The girl blinked and widened her dazed eyes, and glanced around the room. Then she turned to Faye and shrieked. "Who are you? How did you get into my room? _Mom! Dad!_"  
"Oh, you're just dreaming. Come on, lie down." Faye waved her hands, and pushed the girl back onto the bed. The second her head hit the clothes strewn bed, the girl was lights out again.  
"Geez." Faye muttered, and slammed the door shut behind her. "Julian, you sure know how to pick them."

Faye carried on down the hallway, calling out. No response but the echoes of her own voice. She let out a cry when something big and black abruptly dropped right in front of her with a sickening thud. She stared at it, and nudged it with her foot. It let out a faint whimper, then went still.  
"Oh, fwuffy," Faye gasped, going down on her knees beside the large form.  
So what if she herself had been planning on torturing the poor creature moments before? She wouldn't have killed it. Faye carefully placed her hands on the animal, and sighed heavily. It was dead. She was vaguely glad it didn't need to suffer.

She frowned hard when she found the reason for its death. A large disgusting hole right through its chest. And there was a distinct smell above the usual wet-dog stench. A smell of... gun powder? Someone had gotten to it with a shotgun of some sort. For sport?  
Faye didn't think it was very sporting for anyone to kill a creature as magnificent as this. She moved it out of the way and left it behind lying against the wall. Julian wasn't going to be happy.  
_Where is he?_ Faye wondered. First the Creeper drops in dead. Then the Lurker. Julian wouldn't drop in dead, too, would he? No human could succeed in actually killing _him_. She hoped.

The following room was a basement where Julian had been locked in the closet before. Faye recalled that time. Even after Julian got out – he hadn't told her exactly how he'd managed that – and after he'd raged at her until Faye threatened him with death, Julian still hadn't given her any details of just _how_ he'd gotten locked in there. She assumed he'd been playing some sort of game, which was nothing new. What had bothered her then, and now still, was that Julian wasn't letting her in on his games. Usually she knew everything he did. She knew where he was, who he was with, what he was doing and why. Now he was nothing but a phantom, slipping through her fingers every time she thought she'd caught him.

The next room was a cafeteria of sorts. With people in it. Faye held the door ajar, peeking in at them curiously. She'd learnt it best not to intervene with Julian's prey.

She enjoyed watching them be terrorized – with that being the only entertainment she'd been subjected to for decades, Faye had adapted to that sense of humour – but Julian often encouraged her to be part of the end result. Which was never a pretty sight.  
There were five people. Two girls, three guys. They were talking over one another, and from what Faye could make out they were trying to figure out how to get out of the room.  
_Uh, have you tried the door?_ Faye thought and snorted. Then again, they didn't seem to notice the door. Maybe they weren't supposed to. _Maybe they know where I can find Julian_, Faye thought and was about to push the door open wide, when something that sounded like lightning cracked behind her.

She turned in time to see Julian drop from a hole in the ceiling and hit the black carpet with surprising force. For a second, panic flared up in her head. Was he dead?  
But his angry blue eyes blinked back at her, wearing an expression on his face that was as startled as she was.  
"Nice of you to drop in." Faye said, and laughed when Julian scrambled to his feet.  
"Piss off." Julian said, rubbing the back of his neck and glaring at the group of teenagers through the door.  
"Do you know what's happened to your pets?" Faye asked.  
"Not now, Faye." Julian scowled at her.

A girl appeared right in the doorway then, and Faye watched the blonde rush into the room.  
"Oh. Am I in the way?" Faye asked.  
"Yeah." Julian said curtly, not moving an inch, his gaze never wavering from the blonde girl.  
"I need shoes." Faye sighed heavily.  
Julian frowned, and finally sent a glance at her. "What?"  
"I need _shoes_. Fwuffy ate mine."  
"His name's not Fwuffy...urg. Can we talk later?" Total impatience.  
"What are you going to do?" Faye asked, curiously glancing at the group of teenagers again.  
"I'm going to set them on fire."  
"How sporting of you. Just like the idiot who shot the Lurker, I'd imagine." Faye folded her arms across her chest.

"I... what?" Julian glared at her sharply, then turned his gaze furiously back to the group of people. "That damn asshole..."  
"You should set them on fire, though. All of them. It would serve them right for killing your pets." Faye said encouragingly.  
"No. I can't do that." Julian said. "I want to. I can't."  
"Eh, why the hell not?" Faye demanded.  
"It wouldn't be sporting, as you said." With that, Julian stepped into the room. He cast a glance at her over his shoulder. "Stay out."  
Faye held her hands up in mock surrender and took a step back. When Julian returned to her side, there was a ring of fire circling the group of teenagers.

"I thought you said it isn't sporting." Faye pointed out.  
"They can get out if they really wanted to." Julian said and flashed her a wolfish grin. "Mind over matter."  
"I bet you they won't."  
"I bet you they will. If Jenny takes the lead."  
"Jenny again. Is that the blonde?"  
"Yeah."

Faye frowned at the dreamy expression on his sculptured face, then narrowed her eyes at the blonde. She was lying on a table, her friends talking around her about what they were going to do.  
"She doesn't look like she can outsmart you." Faye said.  
"Oh, that girl is just full of surprises. You never know." Julian said.  
"You shouldn't be messing around with vortexes, anyway." Faye chided lightly. "You know you're not exactly smooth with those."  
"I can do whatever I want."  
"At what price?" Faye asked.  
Julian sent her a sidelong glance before turning back to watch.  
"So these are the people you've been busy with?" Faye said, turning back to watch them too.

Jenny, it seems, had come around and was onto Julian's game plan. She was trying to convince her friends that the fire wasn't real.  
"What if they don't make it out?" Faye asked when Julian didn't answer.  
"I haven't thought about that yet." Julian admitted.  
"Genius." Faye mumbled and fell silent when Julian glared at her.  
"It's a given they'll get out. Jenny will get them out."  
"I don't like the way you say her name." Faye said grumpily.  
"I don't like that you're here watching either." Julian retorted.  
"I've got nothing better to do. Oh, there they go." Faye said, surprised when Jenny and one of the guys stumbled right through the ring of fire toward them, toward the door, and then vanished right on the threshold. "Clever girl. But nasty. What about her other friends?"  
"She'll go back for them, probably." Julian said, his jaw clenched.  
Indeed, a moment later, the blonde and the guy came staggering back into the room. Faye watched them all link hands and walk through the ring of fire toward the door.  
"So, what are you going to do once they all get out?" Faye asked curiously. "Then they win, don't they?"  
"They won't win." Julian said.

"Come on. It's obvious the game's over." Faye sighed and laughed. "Julian the great has been defeated by a group of teenagers. Wouldn't Gahiji just love that? Hey, maybe we should put that in the Hall of Losers for everyone to see..."  
Faye trailed off when Julian made a swift motion with his hand. The guy right in the back, with the blonde pony tail, nearly tripped and staggered to regain his balance. He lost his grip on the guy in front of him, and stood uncertainly, blinded by the flames. He looked this way and that, and then clearly desperate to get out of the fire, he turned and bolted in the wrong direction.

"Nice." Faye said when the boy ended up back in the cafeteria. The look on his face was classic.  
A dark head appeared in front of them, rushing through the fire toward the room.  
"And here the goofball comes to save the day!" Julian sang in a heavy baritone voice, and Faye dissolved into laughter.  
"That guy really gets on my nerves." Julian added in a serious tone. He turned and flashed another smile at Faye. "And this concludes round two, and starts round three."  
"Ding ding ding." Faye pretended to ring a bell, and smirked at the two boys now stuck in the ring of fire. "Whatcha going to do now?"  
"Treasure hunt. Not that they are much of a treasure." Julian sniffed in disdain.  
"Can I play too?" Faye asked hopefully.  
"On a treasure hunt? What are you going to do?"  
Faye's smile faded and she shrugged. "I don't know. Watch?"  
"Right. Because that's what we do." Julian said.  
"Hmpf." Faye grumbled and glared at him. "I'm bored, _aljunnu_."

"So? Go play with the Lurker."  
"I told you he's _dead_."  
"You did." Julian said and blinked angrily. "Damn it."  
"Why can't you play something else? Something I can play too?" Faye complained.  
"Because it's _my_ game. Besides, you've got a short attention span. No point in getting you involved when you'll get bored and distracted halfway through."  
"But I miss hanging out with you. May I remind you that's why I created you."  
"So, what are you going to do? Cut me out of the Stave just because I'm too busy?" Julian said in a low, threatening voice.  
Faye pouted, looked down at her feet, then back up at him. "Shoes. Right now."  
"Yes, your highness." Julian made a mocking bow to her, stepped into the room and slammed the door in her face.  
Faye glanced down at her feet, and recoiled at the sight. Two very large, very long, very shiny red boots gleamed back up at her tauntingly. "Oh, what a clown." Faye muttered, and shoved the door open again. The fire was gone. So were the two guys and Julian. "Argh!" Faye shouted in annoyance.

**888000088880000**

Faye stepped through the revolving doors just as the blonde did. The girl didn't notice her, but Faye watched her curiously. Then she stepped into a small warm cave. Julian was standing by a fire, his back turned toward her. The atmosphere in the cave was a very solemn one.  
The soft fluffy blanket on the floor conformed to her shape as she settled herself onto it quietly. Faye studied him for a long time, her gaze sharp as she observed his posture. She looked down and fidgeted with her hands, waiting for words to come to mind. She glanced back up at him uncertainly. There was something wrong with him. Something very _different_. It emanated from him like a faint glow. What was it?  
He finally turned around. He spotted her, and came over to sit down right in front of her. His gaze avoided hers, nailed to the white blanket instead.  
"What happened?" Faye asked softly.

He didn't answer right away. Faye sighed quietly, and reached out. She cupped his face between her hands and lifted his head gently. Still, his eyes were everywhere but on her. Deliberately avoiding looking at her.  
"_Aljunnu_, come now." Faye coaxed. It was disconcerting that he was like this. Something had upset him, but upset wouldn't be the right word. Devastated. Distraught. Shattered. Something very bad must have happened.  
_He's broken._ Faye thought and felt her heart squeeze tight.  
"The others... they..." Julian trailed off, unable to find words.  
"They interfered with your game, is that it?" Faye asked, and withdrew her hands. "I'll have a word with them. But you do know it's all fair play, don't you? The Shadow World is everyone's playground, not just yours."

His eyes lifted to meet hers then, and Faye wished she could take back her words. He seemed to begin to distance himself from her, and she snatched up the teetering threads that held him to her before it could be lost forever.  
"Come with me, _aljunnu_. We'll get this sorted out right now."  
"It's not that easy, Faye." Julian said.  
Faye stared back at him, confused. He looked like a little child that had just put their finger in an electric socket and got a big shock, turning wide eyes filled with accusation at her. Eyes that demanded to know why she wasn't there to stop him from getting hurt.  
"Tell me what happened?"  
"She died." He choked it out.  
"Who died?" Faye frowned.  
"Jenny. They killed her. They drowned her."  
"The blonde girl from the fire in the cafeteria, you mean?" Faye asked uncertainly.  
Julian nodded.  
"But I just walked right past her. She didn't look very dead to me." Faye said lightly, but her joke passed by him unnoticed.  
"I found her too late. I think she might have called out for help, but I didn't hear her."

"But... if she was dead, why is she alive?" Faye asked, and felt her hackles rise involuntarily. "_Aljunnu,_ you didn't..."  
"What choice did I have?" Julian said angrily.  
"Have you lost your mind? She's just prey, she's not worth _you_. Weren't you planning on killing her anyway?"  
"No." Julian said quietly, and he looked away from her again. "I'm indebted to Gahiji and the others."  
"What do you mean?" Faye asked, eyes going wide.  
"We... negotiated." Julian said and shrugged.  
"Spit it out, boy!" Faye snapped.  
"I'm not... yours, anymore." Julian struggled to say the words.  
Faye flew to her feet, outraged. "Wait, wait! _You_ told them that I have no more ownership over you? That you are now _theirs_? Is that what you did?"  
Julian didn't answer, but Faye knew. She paced angrily for a few minutes, her mind working hard. "Okay, okay. That's still fine. At least you didn't bargain your own life for hers, so that's still okay. I can work around that. You have no right to disown yourself from me, by the way. That negotiation is nul in void, Julian. Gahiji is just messing with you."

"They're playing with me." Julian said suddenly, and the anger and hatred on his face then was enough to stop Faye's pacing.  
"Let's go see them. Call a meeting, or something." Faye said.  
"No. You'll only make things worse."  
"How much worse can it get? We need to put a stop to this right now, Julian."  
"They'll kill Jenny. They'll take her."  
"So?"  
"She's _mine_."  
"I know you don't like the idea but..."  
"_No_. If they kill Jenny, then you might as well kill me, too."  
"Who cares who kills Jenny?" Faye exploded angrily.  
"_I do_."  
Faye wrung her hands together, frantic. "Julian, what is going on with you?"  
"I don't know." Julian snapped, rising to his feet. "I don't know, alright!"  
They stood face to face for a tense moment. Faye withheld herself from slapping him, it would do neither of them good and get them nowhere.  
"Just stay out of this." Julian bit each word off. Then he was gone, leaving Faye fuming and alone in the small cave.

**OOO88888OOOOO88888OOOO**

Julian hadn't bargained on his ancestors getting involved. He should have expected as much, though. He was more than aware of the prey Jenny and her friends had released, unknowingly giving the other shadow men a claim over them. It worked to his ancestor's convenience either way – they were all full well aware that Julian would never allow them to touch Jenny, which was why they backed off when he slammed a wave of icy fury toward them to get them away from her. He wouldn't hesitate to cause some mean damage to them in this crucial moment.

But he knew the laws. A life for a life – an eye for an eye. The only way to save Jenny was to negotiate a trade. Julian knew how much his ancestors despised his very existence and he knew there would be no question of them accepting him in her place. He didn't care that much anymore anyway – he was tired of playing these games with Jenny. She wasn't going to give in to him and his skills of persuasion had deemed ineffective up to this point. Jenny would never be his. Besides, he would rather die than watch her continue that masquerade with Tom – he would rather die than have Jenny taken away from him, in life or death.

His ancestors were unwittingly doing him a favour by ending it all right then and there. Julian knew he would never be able to end it himself – and this was the only way to free Jenny from himself; the only way to escape his own desire to have that which he could never have.

He staggered suddenly when one of his ancestors carved his name from the rune stave. It didn't hurt but he felt part of him ripped out, and he felt oddly detached from the scene. He was aware that Jenny and her friends had surprisingly grabbed him and they were dragging his body through the door leading back to their world.

It was the actual gravitational force as they crossed onto Jenny's home ground that hurt, sending a blinding spark of pain soaring through him and fogging up his mind.

Cold fingers danced across his physique and curled around him, gently drawing him away from the world – away from Jenny. Her warmth flooded through him even as he slipped from her gentle hands. It was only then that he realized the magnitude of what he'd done. He was dead, cut off from his own world. His mind reeled in amusement. So this is what it was like to die...

He was vaguely aware of the chaos surrounding him. A door slammed shut beside him. A panic-stricken Michael screaming for a knife... a knife...

"You don't need to do that." He would have grimaced at the weakness in his voice if he'd had the strength. "They won't come after you. They don't have a claim anymore."

Didn't they? He wondered, bewildered. There was nothing stopping them... was there? He thought there was but he couldn't recall exactly...

His thoughts were uncharacteristically scattered. He was speaking to Jenny but his voice sounded strange and distant to his own ears. What was he saying to her? He drew a blank. He knew he was trying to put her at ease, to stroke away the guilt he sensed in her aura, to lessen her wistful demeanour but the words he spoke refused to register in his weary mind. He didn't want to leave her with the burden of his death. Jenny would blame herself, would perceive his passing as his blood on her hands. A million things he wanted to say ran through his mind but he strayed to the most important. "...I loved you..." Did she believe him? Doubt added to the confusion whirling inside of him. Hell, he was so tired of this...

"Nothing dies as long as it's not forgotten..." He said quietly. A spark of coherence flashed painfully through his mind...he recalled another voice telling him that before. He had to leave something behind to be remembered by... something solid... a memory would never suffice... the ring.

Even as he thought it he felt the small gold band form in his palm. His hand slid weakly from his chest. Take it... Jenny... take it...

Jenny picked up the ring just as he breathed his last. A sigh of relief and release.

Jenny was gone. Her warmth, her golden glow, her fire that had warmed him evaporated as a dull empty blackness coiled itself around him like a venomous snake.

END

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**A/N:**_** Revised because I've finally read The Chase – hooray!!**_


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